High temp falls short of record--by 1 degree

Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune

Albert Harris, a contractor who took the day off due to the excessive heat, relaxes in Douglas Park early Tuesday morning. Harris, who brought a propane slow cooker, is making a turkey pot roast while he reads.

Albert Harris, a contractor who took the day off due to the excessive heat, relaxes in Douglas Park early Tuesday morning. Harris, who brought a propane slow cooker, is making a turkey pot roast while he reads. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

Staff and Tribune wire services

The high in Chicago came within 1 degree of matching the record for today's date, but the next several days won't come close to matching the 100-degree or more record temperatures for this time in July.

The temperature hit 99 degrees at O'Hare International Airport at 4 p.m. today. But reasonably low humidity kept the heat index from climbing as high as predicted, breaking the 100-degree mark but not climbing to 110 degrees, the National Weather Service said. The record high for July 17 is 100 set in 1942, as is the record high for July 18, set in 1946.

Things begin to cool off Wednesday, with a high in the upper 80s and some chance of storms. On Thursday, the high is expected to be in the middle 80s, according to the weather service.

The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications is advising residents to take precautions to avoid heat-related emergencies and illness. It says people should check on the elderly and the disabled to determine their well-being.

The extreme heat comes as the Illinois' corn crop wilts due to drought conditions in the state.

The Illinois Farm Bureau says it's the sixth driest year on record so far. The average precipitation during the first half of the year was 12.6 inches. Much of Illinois' corn and soybean crop is suffering.